M5.5 earthquake near El Pedregal, Arequipa

What happened

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 11 km SW of Tapay, Peru on 15 Aug 2016, 02:59 UTC at a depth of 20 km.

Earthquakes of this size are classed as Moderate. Can damage poorly built structures close to the epicentre. This was a shallow earthquake, which tends to be felt more strongly at the surface.

The nearest town in our records is El Pedregal, about 81 km away in Arequipa, Peru.